An arduous task of the homeowner is the cleaning of leaves and other debris from the gutters of a home. A conventional gutter cleaning tool, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,780, used in cleaning the gutters of a home is illustrated in FIG. 1. The entire content of U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,780 is hereby incorporated by reference.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a portion of a gutter 10 is shown as it is usually attached to the eaves of a roof. It is well known that such gutters have many cross-struts 11, consisting of long spikes inside metal collars, along the length thereof. These cross-struts 11 have a dual function.
The long spikes are driven through the top of both walls of the gutter and into the house (immediately under the roof) thus securing the gutter 10 to the house, while the metal collars separate the gutter walls from each other, pin the inside wall of the gutter 10 firmly against the house and pinch the outside wall of the gutter 10 firmly against the heads of the spikes. The side walls 10a and the bottom 10b of the gutter 10 are usually formed out of one piece of sheet metal.
The conventional gutter cleaning tool includes an elongated handle 12 to one end of which is attached rigidly to an arm at a right angle to handle 12 which extends a sufficient distance to enter the gutter 10 and scrape the bottom 10b and walls 10a thereof when the handle 12 is held above and parallel to the gutter 10.
Rigidly fastened on one end of the arm is a first paddle. The first paddle comprises parallel metal plate members on opposite sides of a scraping member which preferably is of rubber or plastic sufficiently stiff to push leaves along the length of the gutter 10. The paddle is rigidly fastened as by bolts to the arm and plates. The paddle roughly has the same contour as the interior walls of the gutter 10.
At another end 16 of the arm is rigidly fastened to the handle 12 and extends at a right angle away from the handle. The another end 16 of the arm extends at a right angle for approximately the same length as the other end of the arm and then is bent at a right angle for an offset portion 16a which extends parallel to the handle 12 and towards the operators end of the handle 12.
The member 16a turns vertically upward and is attached to a second paddle sufficiently lower or smaller in height than the first paddle so that it can be pulled under the cross-struts. The second paddle includes plate members 14a for supporting a scraper member 14b by means of bolts 15.
One of the issues in using the conventional gutter cleaning tool is that gutter cleaning tool is not compact, requiring a user to engage the gutter at a distance from the user's position.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a gutter cleaning tool that a user can engage the gutter without having the gutter cleaning tool engage the roof shingle overhang.
It is further desirable to provide a gutter cleaning tool that is compact and is able to effectively clean gutters.